Padres let Mets off the hook, lose series

New York's Daisuke Matsuzaka exits after just one inning, but Padres score just one run

New York Mets' Curtis Granderson runs the bases after hitting a first-inning solo home run off San Diego Padres starting pitcher Ian Kennedy during a baseball game in New York, Sunday, June 15, 2014. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

New York Mets' Curtis Granderson runs the bases after hitting a first-inning solo home run off San Diego Padres starting pitcher Ian Kennedy during a baseball game in New York, Sunday, June 15, 2014. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

NEW YORK  Less than 24 hours after the Padres had a relative outburst, scoring five runs while shutting out the Mets, the visitors were handed another opportunity. In Sunday’s finale at Citi Field, Mets right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka exited after one inning with an upset stomach, forcing the hosts to scramble their bullpen.

Their defenses would prove sound, against the latest in a season-long series of feeble attacks. The Padres lost, 3-1, falling behind early and failing in their attempts to come from behind. They are 1-5 on this road trip, having dropped two series to two of the league’s weakest teams.

Sunday, Ian Kennedy faltered but still kept the Padres in the game. On that front, his offense inflicted more damage on itself than on the opposition.

While Matsuzaka labored through his only inning, he also benefited from a baserunning blunder by Will Venable, who opened the game with a walk. Everth Cabrera subsequently laid down a sacrifice bunt, allowing the Padres’ leadoff man to advance to second, but Venable gambled for more. He lost, as the throw from Mets first baseman Lucas Duda beat Venable’s slide into third, resulting in a double play.

Matsuzaka then walked Seth Smith, whereupon the Mets pitcher was visited on the mound by a trainer. After a brief conference, Matsuzaka remained in the game to get Chase Headley to ground out.

Matsuzaka would not return for the next inning, but that was before the bottom of the first. For Kennedy’s second pitch of the game, he fired a fastball down and in. Curtis Granderson, a low fastball hitter, redirected the offering over the right-field wall for a 1-0 lead.

The Mets’ next three batters sandwiched a walk between two doubles, the second of which scored another run. Kennedy bore down to retire the next three batters, but his pitch count had already reached 29.

Mets reliever Torres jogged out to the mound for the second inning, having allowed four runs on seven hits in his last appearance, a forgettable inning against the Brewers. Sunday’s outing initially seemed similarly doomed, with the Padres stringing three hits together, Rene Rivera’s infield single scoring Carlos Quentin.

But Torres took advantage of the bottom of the Padres’ order, retiring Jace Peterson and Kennedy. He then coaxed a ground out from Venable.

Torres largely breezed through the following three innings, hitting a batter and allowing a walk but no hits.

“He got some quick outs when he needed to,” said Yonder Alonso, who had one of the Padres’ four hits. “For the most part, we just weren’t able to execute.”

In the sixth, the Padres were presented with an immediate opening against Vic Black, who walked Smith, then did the same to Headley. Both runners went nowhere, as Quentin popped out, Alonso did the same and Rivera struck out swinging.

In the meantime, Kennedy had settled in after allowing two walks and a sacrifice fly in the second. From the third through the fifth, he allowed two hits and a walk. Still, his final line would include 5 ⅓ innings, seven hits and four walks, a season-high. He threw 116 pitches, 73 for strikes.